European Grand Prix – Practice

Practice 1:
Perez is back in the Sauber having dropped out of the Canadian race weekend saying he hadn’t fully recovered from his accident in Monaco
Hulkenberg put the Force India into the wall – the car squirmed under braking, he tried to correct it, hit the front left and then rear left wheels into the wall and damaged the suspension
SV apparently had issues with his steering wheel (as did MW in Canada)
Fastest was MW (1:40.40) followed by FA, FM, JB, AS, LH, NH and NR

Practice 2:
PD is unlikely to take part in this session as the Force India team rebuild the car that Hulkenberg crashed in Practice 1
JA is waiting for his car too – as yet it’s an “undiagnosed problem”
JD runs wide and brakes some bodywork on the rumble strips
SP runs wide and just keeps it out of the tyre wall
30mins gone = 60mins left; top 6 are SV, MW, FA, PM, FM, LH
RB locks up and has to use the escape road
KK locks up too – stays on the track but must have a massive flat spot now
NK locks up in the same place that RB, and makes use of the escape route too
Pit-car radio from JB saying he has understeer at high speed
FA locks up and uses that same escape road as RB & NK
Big discussions in the Toro Rosso garage – doesn’t look like they’ll rebuild JA’s car anytime soon
60mins gone = 30mins left; top 6 are SV, MW, FM, NR, NH, FA … and as I finish writing that LH goes P1
25mins left and it looks like PD will be on track soon
Toro Rosso mechanics still working on JA’s car
PD finally exits the pit lane
10mins left; top 6 are FA, LH, SV, MS, FM, JB
5mins left; no change at the top
FM locks up and runs wide in the final turn
SV was passing some slower cars; thought about turning in at the hairpin but there was still a car on the apex, so SV took to the escape road
Chequered flag; Spaniards are P1 (FA) and P24 (JA)
Fastest was FA (1:37.658) followed by LH, SV, MS, FM, JB, MW & NR
PD managed P14 with just 4 laps in this session